Vervada
by Drakai
Summary: When the villagers of Wave decided to reward Team 7 for saving their town, Naruto stumbles upon a purple gemstone that seems to call for him. Only, later that night, he finds out it's not exactly a gemstone.
1. Chapter 1

"So why are we here again?" Naruto asked, looking around the basement of Gato's mansion. His team had, despite massive odds stacked against them, managed do defeat Gato's army, kill the man and free the village of Wave.

"Because the villagers want to reward us, moron." Sasuke, his male teammate, grunted.

"Yeah, moron." Sakura, the other teammate and the only female one, chimed in.

"What I meant is, why are we getting rewarded for doing our job? We're already supposed to get paid for that." His two teammates just grunted and sifted about the huge stacks of treasures, scrolls and weapons around the room.

"Remember children, only four each." Their sensei, Kakashi, reminded them, not looking away from his book, even as he was picking up for similar ones from nearby. "Why would a crime lord keep books in a basement vault?" He muttered to himself after a moment of thought.

"Fine, whatever. Never mind me, I'm just trying to do the right thing here, whoop-de-doo." Naruto grumbled, looking around the various piles of gold, precious gems and stacks of paper money. Almost automatically, his eyes landed on a deep purple precious gem that was easily almost three feet in length, with some veins of a lighter purple running the length. He reached for it, but it was snatched from its stand by Sasuke. "Hey, give me that stone, Sasuke."

"No way, moron. I want it." The raven-haired fifteen-year-old said with a greedy glint in his eyes.

"You only want it because I reached for it. Sasuke, please." Naruto asked the boy, who just laughed at him.

"Give it up., Naruto. Just give Sasuke the damn rock." Sakura came to the aid of her crush.

"What's going on here?" Their Sensei came from behind, tucking his book safely in one of his pouches.

"Naruto wants to take that rock away from Sasuke when he saw it first." Sakura informed him, getting a grunt of agreement from the Uchiha.

"Really now? Naruto?"

"I saw the stone first, and he took it."

"Sasuke, why did you take the stone?"

"The Dobe can't have it. It's mine." Sasuke sent Naruto a glare.

"And Naruto?"

" I… don't know. It just called to me, I guess."

"Hm…" Kakashi stroked his chin for a moment. "Ok then. Sasuke, give the stone to Naruto."

"What! Why?"

"Because somehow 'it calls to me' is a better answer than 'he can't have it." Kakashi shrugged. "Now." He added a little forcefully when Sasuke didn't move.

"Fine, Dobe. You want it? Here!" The Uchiha threw the stone as hard as he could against the ground, where it only clattered a little and rolled to Naruto's feet, completely undamaged. The blond picked it up with a sigh of relief. Sasuke grunted again and left the room, grabbing three random gemstones and a chokuto from a nearby wall. Sakura ran after him taking the shiniest things she could.

"Thanks Sensei." Naruto muttered to the man.

"Yeah, sure. Three more things." Kakashi reminded him as he left, following his two students. "We'll be at the client's house. Try to hurry up, Naruto."

The blond turned around, looking at the large collection of swords, sitting there on the floor, sadly collecting dust. He took a few into his hands, trying them out, and then disappointedly returning them to their place, before reaching one double-edged hand-and-a-half sword in black sheaths, with a deep amethyst at the pommel. The sword was well balanced, and almost seemed like it was made just for him. Taking out the blade for a moment he saw that it was the same color as the stone he found, with strange runes carved near the guard on the blade. He gave a small smile and shifted the sword to the other hand, still containing the stone, and moved on to the scrolls and the rear book in a pile on the far wall.

Immediately his eyes fell on two medium sized leather-bound tomes, luckily written in his own language. The titles on the sides were 'Of Dragon Riders' and 'How to Take Care of Your Hatchling'. Shrugging to himself, he took them and left the basement.

Naruto walked back to the bridge builder's house and, after being informed by his Sensei that they would depart the next day, made way to his room on the second floor and opened the first book.

"Ok, let's start…"

Hours later, after falling asleep as soon as he finished the interesting book; Naruto was woken up by small tremors and high-picked whines. Jolting from his bead he scanned the room quickly with his eyes. He found that the purple stone was making those noises, shaking violently. As he cautiously approached it, the thing shattered, revealing a four foot long lizard-like being with wings and scales the color the stone, or, rather, what he now realized to be an egg, had been, licking off the membrane remaining from the hatching. Naruto recognized the creature immediately thanks to the book he had read, which described them in great detail.

"A dragon…" He whispered in wonder. "And actual dragon." He tentatively reached his right hand to the small dragon, which sniffed the air and touched the blonde's palm with its snout.

A sharp, burning pain ran through Naruto's entire body, and an ancient yet young consciousness seemed to brush against his, leaving him unconscious for the better part of the hour. When he came to he saw that the dragon had moved, now standing on his chest, looking at him. A strong sense of curiosity not his own came into his mind.

"Was that you?" The dragon tilted its head and the sense of curiosity returned full force. "I guess so." He looked at the palm the dragon had touched with its snout, finding a shining silver tear-drop shaped mark. He reached to the small creature, stopping an inch or two from its head, wary of another shock. The dragon took the initiative, however, nudging his palm with the top of its head, making the blond let out a sigh of relief when he felt no pain from the touch, just a small tingling. "I can't believe the book was actually right." He muttered to himself in amazement, petting the top of the dragon's head, much to the small creature's delight.

Suddenly a strong, deep feeling of hunger came through the bond the two now shared, surprising Naruto. "Hungry, little guy?" When he got nothing in return from the dragon, he tried sending a picture of a piece of meat through the bond, getting a sense of agreement from the purple dragon. He smiled and got up. "Let's see if we can find you something." He opened the window and jumped down, carefully holding the dragon in his arms. Sensing movement to the left, he accurately threw a kunai and hit a small rabbit in the head. "Come on." He said, putting the dragon on the ground gently. "Get your dinner." The creature sniffed the air cautiously, before sensing the meat and jumping after it. In mere moments the rabbit was gone, and the dragon was lying on its back, a satisfaction coming from it.

"Hey there Naruto. What are you doing?" The voice coming from behind startled him and he jumped forward, taking the confused dragon and hiding it behind his back.

"Nothing Sensei. Absolutely nothing."

"Yeah, nice try. Let me see it." Came Kakashi's amusement laden reply. With a small sigh, Naruto brought his hands in front of him, revealing the dragon curled there. "A purple lizard? With wings?" The dragon snapped angrily at the silver-haired ninja.

"_Dragon._ It's a dragon." Naruto grumbled at his Sensei.

"Doesn't really look like a dragon." Kakashi looked at it. "Looks like a lizard with wings."

"And how many dragons have you seen? Real dragons, none of that snake-like crap you make with jutsu." Kakashi thought for a moment before conceding the point.

"So where did you get a… dragon?"

"That stone I found was actually an egg."

"Neat. Why's your palm silver?" He motioned to the mark on Naruto's right hand. The dragon yawned, interrupting them.

"How 'bout I tell you tomorrow. My dragon's tired, and I could use a bit of sleep."

"Ok, sure. Just make sure you use the same entrance." Kakashi motioned to the window to Naruto's room before disappearing from sight. Naruto gave a small sigh and, cradling the dragon carefully, jumped to the roof and came through the window, closing it behind him. He laid on the bad and the dragon curled up on his chest, already asleep. Naruto let out a small chuckle and stroked the top of the creature's head, closing his eyes and following the dragon's, _his_ dragon's, example.

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**I was reading the final book of the Cycle, and reading some fanfics of it (I especially enjoyed the FemSlash one with Eryana and Arya) when I couldn't wait anymore, and had to write this story (the idea I thought about a long time ago, actually). I mean literally couldn't wait, it's, like, 5 AM over here. The next chapter may be up tomorrow, or I may write one for some other story, I haven't decided yet.**

**Oh, also, since I really love dragons and can't stand the idea of them going extinct, there's gonna be at least one more egg, which will hatch for Naruto's love interest (up for debate, haven't decided yet), and probably more, like in the Vault of Souls in Inheritance. Still thinking about the Eldunari, though probably not.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto gave a small grunt as he shifted the straps of his backpack. The pack gave off a small sound which, fortunately, neither of his teammates heard. A smile appeared on his face as he fished out a strip of meat from his pocket and put it in the pack, getting a happy mewl from within.

"It's surprisingly cute for a supposed creature of mass destruction." Kakashi noted with a chuckle. "Is that all you have to tell me?"

"At the moment. Come on, I don't even know all that much." The fifteen-year-old Gennin muttered at his Sensei's look. "And most of what I don't know and some of what I do is still reserved only for the Order. Not even the Hokage can know." Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"How much do you want to tell him?"

"Nothing, at least for another month or two, and even then only if I have to."

"Why? I thought you told me the Order was pretty famous back then."

"It was. But I'm the only one now, and my dragon's still so small. I won't allow anything to harm it." Naruto shot his Sensei a hard look.

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Two reasons. First off, you already saw the dragon. And I do trust you."

"And what about that?" Kakashi motioned to the sword Naruto was carrying in his left hand.

"Still thinking. There must be some books left somewhere out there. I'll need to look into it when we get to Konoha. Anything else?" Kakashi shook his head and the rest of the trip to their home village was spent in silence.

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It took the team five days to get to Konoha with a moderate pace, since their Sensei wasn't in any hurry. Naruto was glad for the pace, but his dragon was growing rapidly. It was almost too big to fit in his pack, and already twice as large as when they had left Nami. He was just thankful, for the first time, that Sasuke and Sakura were too absorbed in the former to notice.

But it was on the fifth day, just a couple of miles from the gates of the village, that Naruto froze mid-step.

"_Who am I?"_ The words echoed in his mind. The ancient presence that signified his dragon was there full force. Naruto nervously shifted his pack. The dragon inside was quiet.

"Was that you?" he muttered lowly.

"_Yes."_ Came the amused reply in his mind. _"Who am I?"_

A name. The dragon wanted a name, Naruto realized. He closed his eyes in though, trying to recall the dragon names the book held.

"_Firnen." _No longer startled by his dragon's sudden ability to speak the human language, Naruto sent his words through their link, just as he did constantly through the five days they had travelled.

"_No." _Amusement was sent back through the link.

"_Very well then, Glaedr."_ The next name was also rejected, and those after it. _"Eridor."_

"_No. Naruto." _The amusement was no longer there.

"_That's my name, you can't… Oh." _Naruto slapped his forehead with his palm. The dragon was female. _"I'm sorry." _The next few minutes were spent in listing a couple of female names Naruto could remember. By now, all three of his teammates had noticed he stopped, but could only see him with a far-away look in his eyes, his right hands clutching the strap of his backpack and his lips moving soundlessly.

"_Vervada." _Finally, after at least a dozen names, he could feel content seeping through the link.

"_Yes, I am Vervada, daughter of Saphira. It's a pleasure to meet you, my Rider."_ Naruto gave a small chuckle and looked ahead, seeing a mop of pink hair and a fist drawn back, getting ready to punch him. He could hear his dragon's quiet growl from behind him and, sharing her sentiments, caught the fist in his hand and squeezed, bringing Sakura to her knees in pain.

"What?" He growled at her.

"We're almost there." Kakashi called ahead of him, eyes glued to the book in his hands. "Please let go of your teammate Naruto." The blond grunted but let go, glaring at the pinkette who now had a slightly scared look in her eyes.

"Do that again and you'll lose that hand." Naruto walked ahead, followed by the occupied Sensei, scared Sakura and uncaring Sasuke.


End file.
